Vending-machine.



No. 740,159.l PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

` H'. s. MILLS,

VBNDING MACHINE.

. Y IoATIoN FILED MAY 2a, 190s.

Nn MODEL. 2 EEEEE s,-sHBBT 1.

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PATENTED SEPT. 29, 190s.

H. S. MILLS. VENDING MACHINE.

. APPLIQATION Hmm MAY 23. 1903. No MODEL. s' sums-snm: z.

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iz/@7667i 21(5553 n UNITEDv STATES f Patented september 29, reos. PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERTv S. MILLS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VWENDINGFMACHINE.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,159, dated September 29,

Application filed May Z8, 1903- Serial No. 15A45. (No model.)

To CL'ZZ whom, t muy concern:

Beit known that Ll-IERBERT S. MILLS, a'citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

vhave invented a new and useful Improvement in Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specification. f

My invention relates, primarily, to an improvement in the delivery'mechanism in a. coin-operated vending-machine, my objects being to provide a novel and comparatively simple and positively and reliably operatingv construction of that mechanism. and to adapt" it to produce the delivery of thearticle to bey vvended in succession from each of a plurality of holders for the article, so as to deplete them uniformly.

- Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a view in front elevation of the machine with the front of the casing removed holding the article to be vended in a stack'.

of pieces onpacliages. The shape of the receptacle, which should be open along its face, preferably conforms in cross section to the shape of the article it is' designedV to hold.

Thus, as shown, the receptacle is rectangular in cross-section, with its upper end open'and ilanges a a projecting toward each other from its opposite sides to leave a' longitudinal opening in its face except for a cross-piece linear its lower end, which is open, but provided with inturned ilanges cc tol form a seat for the stack of articles it is designed tov hold. As represented, the'receptacle is adapted for holding a stack o f chewing-gum B in wrapped pieces or packages, though it is also adapted for containing other articles-such as' chocolate, confections, and the like-and I desire to be understood as intending my improvement for usein vending any kind of article adapted to be contained within it and to be delivered bythe delivery mechanism hereinafter described. Two of the receptacles shown, one for each receptacle. rcamare provided levers F and F', eachfuL crumed at its lower end on the base of the frame dto extend upwardA crosswise of the shaft and across the path of its respective cam,

I are shown side by side in the drawings, de-

noted as C andC", respectively, though it is within my invention to provide only one or 'more than two in series. y

A rotary shaft D (shown to be formed of 'l two longitudinal sections fr and fu') is jour.- naled at its opposite ends to extend below and slightly forwardof the open bases of the re- ,ceptacles in the vertical sides of a casing, and

it carries on the section 'u one or more calnfingers E,each Vshown to be of general S shape and mounted at its center on the shaft to extend transversely thereofl and render it a duplex cam. Two of these cam-.fingers are 1 Back of the which engages with its lever at a roller-bear- 'ing e, journaled between the parallel arms of ,which the lever is shown to be formed and which are shown' braced near their upper ends at and expanded above the brace into a twoarmed head F2, extending between the inturned flanges c o and reachingabove them to or about to the extent of the thicknessof an article in the receptacle, and 0n the sides of the head are provided backward extensions ff,- which should curve slightly, as represented, in a backward and downward direction along their upper ed ges. ently held normally by a spring i in a vertical position,with its .headforming the base of the respective receptacle for supporting the stack of the latters contents. When a lever is turned backward against the resistance of its controlling-spring, as hereinafterdescribed, to withdraw its'llead behind the plane of the receptacle with which it cooperates, the stack of the contents thereof or remaining piece or package in the receptacle drops to rest upon the flanges c c, and is thus brought into the return-path of the lever-head, which lon being released is suddenly retracted by the recoil force of its spring against the article to be delivered and sweeps it out from lunderneath the stack, in doing which the lever resumes its normal vertical position, with its head again forming the withdrawable support for the contents of the receptacle. The backward sweep of a lever is effected by turning Each lever is resilithe section of the shaftD to cause a cam thereon to act against the respective bearing e, and this is accomplished by any suitable coincontrolled mechanism.

The particular mechanism illustrated for the purpose is provided directly underneath a vertical coin-chute G, leading from a coininsertion slot gin the top of the casing. This mechanism Operates on the principle of that shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 591,559, issued October 12, '1897, to M. B. Mills, and it involves the following-described construction: l-l is a drum having on one end a collar h, at which it is rigidly fastened on an end of the shaft-section c to receive and afford a bearing for the adjacent end of the shaft-section fu', which passes through a side of the casing A, beyond which itcarries, for operating it, a crankhandle G, the extent of turning which is limited by stops 7c and k at the opposite ends 'of its throw. In the perimeter of the drum arc provided a circumferential series of coinpockets Z, of which four are shown and one of which always registers with the lower end of the coin-chute owing to the extent of throw of the operating-lever. On the shaft-section ci is rigidly fastened, to turn with it, a diskshaped head m, carrying onl its face a hood Il (shown of semicylindrical form) to overlap and cover a corresponding portion of the surface of the drum,leaving an intervening space between them for freedom of movement of the hood over the drum. Thehood is retractively held by a spring n, and on the edge of its head m is provided an arc-shaped series of teeth, n

forming a ratchet o for engagement by a pivotal spring-controlled pawl 0 of well-known construction and operation in apparatus of the present kind for preventing the hood from being retracted by its controlling-sprin g until the complete throw of the operatinglever in the forward direction has carried the ratchet beyond the pawl, (meantime being held thereby at any intermediate position between the ends of the throw of the lever, when the controlling-spring of the pawl turns it to permit the ratchet to slide freely over it.

With the parts in the relative positions in which they are illustrated in Fig. l the operation of the machine is as follows: A suitable coin, such as a copper cent, is inserted into the slot g to descend in the chute G and enter edgewise a coincident pocket in the drum H, from which pocket, being shallower than the diameter of the coin, the latter will project into the path of the adjacent edge of the hood and present to it an abutment. Near the lower end of the chute there is shown loosely pivoted upon it a finger p to extend at its lower shouldered extremity, by gravity, into the path through the chute of the coin, which may freely pass it, but is prevented by the downward extension of the finger beyond the shoulder from rebounding out of the pocketafter dropping into it. With a coin thus contained in a pocket on turning the handle G forward the resultant-turning of the hood abuts it against the projecting portion of 'the coin, thereby turning the drum, and with it the shaft D, until further turning is arrested by the stop 7c, when another pocket will register with the coin-chute for another operation of the machine. The operator then releases the handle, which thereupon flies back and carries with the shaft-section fu the hood to its initial position, under the retractive force of the spring n, without disturbing the drum in the position to which it has been turned, and the coin, released from the hood, drops out into a drawer or other suitable receptacle, (represented at I.) In thus turning the shaft-section o a cam thereon will have encountered and passed the lever-beari ng ein its path, thereby forcing the lever, against the resistance of its controlling-spring, backward on its fulcrum to withdraw accordingly its head from underneath the contents of the respective receptacle, whereupon they drop to rest on the anges c c, thereby bringing the lowermost piece or package in the returnpath of the lever-head. As soon as the cam clears the lever-bearing the lever is free to be retracted by its spring QI, and. the retraction is sudden and causes the lever-head to sweep the article in its path out of the receptacle upon an inclined chute K, on which it slides down to the base of the receptacle and may be taken out through an opening K above the latter. The two cam devices E are shown set on the shaft D at rightangles to each other, and since each has a cam at each of its ends to engage with a lever in its path each device will actuate a lever twice in a rotation of 'the shaft, and the devices being thus set at rig-ht angles to one another the levers will be actuated twice and successively by the complete rotation of the shaft. Of course where more than two of the cam devices are provided on the shaft D they will be set at suitable relative angles to cause them to operate successively against the levers throughout the series thereof, then composed of a number corresponding with that of the cam devices, to withdraw the articles from the receptacles in succession, and thereby deplete them accordingly, which is the object of the plural arrangement of the parts.

The details herein shown and described of my limproved delivery mechanism may be variously modified without departure from my invention. Hence I do not intend to be understood as limiting it to such details. Moreover, it would be within my invention to reverse the action of the delivery-levers by causing their controlling-springs to hold them in the retracted position to be actuated to effect the delivery by the direct action of the cams.

i What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a vending-machine, the combination of a receptaclefor the` article to, be vended, having a seat therefor at its open base, a

IOC

spring-controlled lever extending into said receptacle through said seat to form thereon a seat for the article and retractable from beneath the article, a rotary shaft, and a cam on the shaft to engage with said lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

2. In a vending machine, the combination of a receptacle for the article to be vended having a seat therefor at its open base, a

spring-controlled lever having a head extend-- ing into said receptacle through said seat to form therein a seat for the article and retractable'from beneath the article, a rotary shaft, and a cam device on the shaft having a plu-Y rality of camsto engage successively with said lever`l` in the rotation of the shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a vending-machine, the combination of a plurality of receptacles for the articleV to be vended, each having a seat therefor at its open base, a spring-controlled lever for each receptacle extending into the same through of4 a. plurality of receptacles for thearticle to be vended, each having a seat therefor at its open base, a spring-controlled lever for each receptacle having a head extending therein through said seat to form a seat for the article and retractable from beneath the article, a rotary shaft, and aplurality of cani devices each having a plurality of cams and relatively set on said shaft to engage in its rotation successively With said levers.' substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a vending-machine, the combination of a plurality of vertical receptacles for the article to be vended, each having a seat therefor at its open base, a plurality of springcontrolled levers, one for each receptacle, fulcruined at its lower end and terminating at its upper end in a head to extend into its receptacle through said seat and form a seat for the article and retractable from beneath the article, a rotary. shaft, and a plurality of duplex cam devices relatively set on said shaft to engage in its rotation successively with said levers, substantially as and for the purpose vset forth.

o HERBERT S. MILLS. In presence of NVALTER N..WINBERG,

W. B. DAvIEs. 

